“Feeling shy?”
Ilse choked on her coffee, and he laughed.
“Stop teasing me!”
“I honestly cannot help it. You’re all too easy to tease, babe.”
She started grumbling about too-cocky billionaires, and the billionaire contentedly leaned against the bench, letting her sweet voice lull his senses. It was the sound of normalcy, and after a decade of living without direction, he craved the sound like it was a drug he was addicted to.
He bit into his sandwich, and she stopped speaking, staring at him. Knowing that she was probably fretting inside her mind, he said honestly, “It’s good.”
She visibly relaxed, and he managed to suppress his smile as he took a sip of his coffee. His beautiful Ilse might be in denial of her feelings for him, but unfortunately for her, everything she did gave her away.
When they were done, he walked her to his car and drove her to work, the ride spent in pleasurable contemplative silence. It was just the two of them, and though she secretly liked it this way, it did make her wonder, and she turned to the billionaire, saying, “Jaak?” When he glanced at her, she asked, “Why do you seem so different from other billionaires?”
“Different how?”
“Well, you don’t have bodyguards...”
“They’re around,” he answered offhandedly. “But they all work undercover.”
“Oh.” This was another new discovery about the billionaire, and she wondered if there would ever be a day he’d cease to surprise her.
Probably not,Ilse thought, and she liked it that way, too.
“What about the paparazzi?”
The billionaire snorted. “They know better than to piss me off.” At her bemused look, he said rather wryly, “I suppose it’s what you said. I’m not like other billionaires.”
“Oh?”
“I used to beat up anyone stupid enough to get in my face.”
Her eyes went wide, and she said again, “Oh.” She had a hard time reconciling the billionaire’s words with how he was now,and she shook her head. “You don’t look like someone who beat people up.”
“Well, I did.” The billionaire’s tone was light. “I’m a lot of things most people don’t expect me to be.” Ilse didn’t speak after that, and the billionaire wondered grimly if she was thinking about all the other secrets that he was carrying inside of him.
A moment later, and he had his answer. Ilse’s small, soft hand slipped under his on the gearstick, and the gesture of acceptance wasn’t lost on him.
Every secret, she would wait for it, and she wouldn’t ever hold it against him.
Chapter Thirteen
It was already nine in the evening by the time Jaak returned to Glory Hall, and a quick scan of the place showed that Ilse was the only one around. She had her legs tucked under her, elbows on the table, and looked too engrossed with whatever she was watching on her laptop to notice his presence.
Walking stealthily behind her, he caught a glimpse of what she was watching—-
A woman wearing a skimpy police uniform, her surgically enhanced breasts about to pop out of it any moment, was licking the barrel of her fake gun like it was a cock.
A bark of laughter escaped him, and the sound had Ilse slamming the laptop shut.
Turning around, she caught sight of his gleaming blue eyes, and she fought against the urge to blush. Over the years, she had worked hard to adopt a brazen attitude towards all things sexual, but every time she was with the billionaire, he just had this way about him that made her feel like an untutored schoolgirl.
“If you have any questions next time,” the billionaire said solemnly, “just come to me.”
“Because you’re an expert?”
“Have I not proven that in the past three weeks?” His fingers slowly trailed down her body as he spoke, and Ilse’s body trembled in reaction.
